For me, the weekend included catching up with shows at the Phoenix and the Indianapolis Museum of Art. It also involved stealing moments to read, flipping between David Wild’s goofy new “He Is…I Say: How I Learned to Stop Worrying…
According to the Western Michigan Business Review, Schuler Books and Music in Grand Rapids (an outstanding locally owned chain) is looking to go beyond the cafe-and-sweet-treats ammenities that have become stapes in bookshops.
The downtown store has applied for a…
Peter Bart, one of the smarter guys in Hollywood, has an interesting blog over at Variety. His topic: Celebrity interviews. (Find it here.)
In the piece, Bart elequently points out something I’ve felt for a long time now: That most…
Today, some random notes from around the arts world:
–Chris Jones at the Chicago Tribune has an interesting item today about customer service in theaters. See it here. Have you had any overwhelming negative or positive experiences from the front-of-the-house…
This is the time of year that otherwise respectable news outlets begin publishing or broadcasting stories about haunted houses–not just the “guy jumps out at you with a chainsaw” haunted houses but also the allegedly real ones.
Problem is, many of…
The 54-volume Great Books of the Western World series, a set of books that sold more than a million copies in the 1950s and ’60s, was:
a. an empowering, groundbreaking effort to bring brilliant writing to the masses.
b. a sales stunt perpetrated by Encyclopedia…
One of the biggest sociological buzz books in recent years was Malcolm Gladwell’s “The Tipping Point,” in which the journalist looked at the root causes of popularity–what are the circumstances that lead to a sudden skyrocketing of awareness
His next book,…
Zondervan, one of the world’s leading publishers of Bibles, announced that it will be printing a hand-written version, with more than 31,000 Americans performing the penmanship. It’s being called Bible Across America and, yes, there’s an RV involved. You can find the…
Classical music fans, musicians, critics and administrators around the country are taking sides in a battle that’s been raging in Cleveland.
The situtation: After years of blasting Cleveland Orchestra music director Franz Welser-Most, Cleveland Plain Dealer music critic Donald Rosenberg has…
A few weeks back, in my A&E Season Preview in the print IBJ, I picked as one of the highlighted events David Foster Wallace’s scheduled talk at Butler University.
That won’t be happening. The acclaimed writer, best known for his essays and…
Today’s Start with Art luncheon at the Convention Center unofficially marks the start of the arts season in Indy.
So were you there? If so, what did you think of Col Dean M. Esserman’s talk?
For those who weren’t, Esserman–Chief of Police…
I don’t expect there to be many visitors here today–which I hope means you are enjoying the long weekend.
Still, whether you are checking in Monday or Tuesday (or beyond), let me know what you’ve seen, read or experienced this weekend.
As for…
Publishers Weekly reports that the Rocky Mountain News has decided to start publishing fiction in its newspaper. Specifically, original short stories. See story here.
On the surface, fiction might seem no more out of place in a newspaper than comics or…
A brief review I posted here on Friday of the IndyFringe show “Peace on Terror” has generated some intense reaction. See the post and ongoing comments here. The conversation, led by someone involved in the show, has spilled over…
Ron Rosenbaum at Slate.com seems think so.
“What always gets to me,” he writes, “is the self-congratulatory assumption on the part of puzzle people that their addiction to the useless habit somehow proves they are smarter or more literate than the…
At England’s Ways with Words literary festival, authors were asked to name books that they are ashamed to admit they haven’t read. See story here.
For me, that would be a long list, including “Catch-22,” “Moby Dick,” “Remembrance of Things…
A little light reading for the day, care of The Onion.
It’s the senator’s first appearance in the satiric newspaper since this story in 2004.
Enjoy. Just don’t forward these as real news, please.
At the top of my reading pile right now is Doug Crandell’s new novel “Hairdos of the Mildly Depressed.” Crandell has Indiana roots, a big heart, and lots of talent and I’m looking forward to gliding into this one.
It will…
My just-over-the-cubicle-wall colleagues at Indiana Lawyer reported yesterday that Judge Sarah Evans Barker “threw out a new Indiana law requiring bookstores and other retailers to register with the state and pay a $250 fee if they want to sell…
So did you visit the “On the Road” scroll at the IMA? Swing to “Swing” at American Cabaret Theatre? Try to understand the great Joe Cocker at Verizon Wireless Music Center?
Let us know what A&E you experienced this weekend.
For me, much…
